Weapons Sales
Hinge on Vietnam Rights Record
By
Joshua Lipes - RFA
06-05-2013
The
U.S. said Wednesday that it would not lift remaining sanctions on weapon exports
to Vietnam unless Hanoi improved to its human rights record.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Joseph Yun told a
congressional hearing on U.S. relations with Vietnam that Washington would not
support an upgrade in bilateral ties without “demonstrable, sustained
improvement” on human rights.
“While we intend to pursue closer security ties with Vietnam, there remain
limits on our military-to-military relationship related to human rights,” Yun
told a panel on Asia and the Pacific of the U.S House of Representatives.
Yun said however that the U.S. would support Vietnam’s efforts to modernize its
military “within the non-lethal realm” to maintain peace and security in
Southeast Asia.
“[W]e have made clear to Vietnam’s defense and civilian leaders that for the
United States to consider lifting the remaining restrictions on defense
equipment exports, including on lethal weapons, there needs to be continued
demonstrable, sustained improvement in the human rights situation in the
country,” he said.
Vietnam has called for the removal of the remaining sanctions, saying it would
serve both Washington and Hanoi’s mutual interests, and allow Vietnam to
“overhaul and upgrade our weaponry.”
Experts have suggested that the U.S. is unlikely to lift the ban any time soon
as the most recent annual human rights report released by the U.S. State
Department does not support changing current policy.
Delegation blocked
Yun’s statement came as a delegation of British lawmakers were barred from
visiting the leader of a banned Buddhist organization during a recent visit to
Vietnam, proving that he endures harsh political restrictions despite Hanoi’s
claims that he is free.
The delegation of Members of Parliament from the UK All Party Parliamentary
Group (APPG) was blocked from meeting with the 85-year-old Thich Quang Do of the
Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) while visiting Ho Chi Minh City, the
Paris-based UBCV-affiliated International Buddhist Information Bureau (IBIB)
said in a statement.
The APPG was in Vietnam from May 25-31 to reinforce parliamentary links between
the country and Britain, and the IBIB had set up a meeting between a group of
nine people—including five members of parliament and staff, and three officers
from the British Embassy in Hanoi—and Thich Quang Do at the Thanh Minh Zen
Monastery on the morning of May 30.
But the delegation was forced to cancel the meeting due to “last minute
problems,” IBIB said, adding that the group received an anonymous call from an
official with the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee who said Hanoi had
specifically forbidden a meeting with Thich Quang Do.
“Vietnam continuously informs the international community that Thich Quang Do is
under no form of house arrest, and is ‘completely free’ at the Thanh Minh Zen
Monastery,” IBIB Director Vo Van Ai said.
“If this is the case, why is he unable to receive visitors without the
authorization of the authorities in Hanoi?”
Religious restrictions
The IBIB said it was “deeply disturbed” that Vietnamese authorities would
prevent a meeting between the Buddhist scholar and Nobel Peace Prize nominee and
the delegation of British members of parliament, who were visiting Vietnam “in a
spirit of dialogue and mutual exchange.”
“This is an outrageous way to treat international public figures. It is also a
clear proof of the political restrictions imposed upon Thich Quang Do,” the
group said.
“This incident also underscores the discrepancy between Vietnam’s declarations
to the international community and the reality of harassments and repression
suffered daily by peaceful religious and political dissidents in Vietnam.”
Unsanctioned religious groups face strict controls in Vietnam, religious
activity is monitored and groups must be supervised by government-controlled
management boards.
The State Department included Vietnam on its list of Countries of Particular
Concern in 2004 but removed it from the blacklist two years later and has since
ignored repeated calls by the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedoms (USCIRF) to reinstate the country’s designation.